The spiritual gift of healing is a supernatural ability given by the Holy Spirit to certain believers to serve as a conduit for God’s healing power. The purpose of this gift is to glorify God and confirm the truth of the gospel message (Mark 16:20). Those with the gift of healing are used by God to bring physical, emotional, and spiritual restoration to people in need.
The gift of healing is listed in 1 Corinthians 12:9 as one of the gifts of the Spirit given to believers. Other references to the spiritual gift of healing are found in passages such as Mark 16:18, James 5:14-15, and Acts 3:1-10. While not all Christians possess this gift, all believers can pray for God to heal and restore those who are sick or suffering.
The Source of the Gift
Healing comes from God alone. The man or woman who has the gift of healing has received something from God that the rest of the church needs to seek from God. The human instrument is just a vessel through whom God’s healing power can flow (Acts 3:12). The gift of healing is not about the person who heals, but about Christ working through believers.
Jesus’ Example of Healing
The Gospels record more than twenty specific healings performed by Jesus during his earthly ministry. In healing the sick and afflicted, Jesus demonstrated the compassion of God and authenticated his messianic claims. Christ’s miracles of healing provided a foretaste of the coming kingdom where there will be no more sickness, pain, suffering or death (Revelation 21:4). Jesus commanded his followers to preach, teach and heal the sick (Matthew 10:8). The gift of healing enables believers today to continue Christ’s ministry of restoration and deliverance.
How the Gift Operates
There are different ways the gift of healing can operate through a believer:
– Prayer – God responds to faithful prayers for the sick. God may heal immediately or over time in response to persistent prayer (James 5:14-16).
– Laying on of hands – The person with the gift lays hands on and prays for the sick person, and healing power flows from God through them (Mark 16:18). This was a common method practiced in the early church.
– Anointing with oil – Oil can represent the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. Anointing a sick person accompanies praying in faith for their healing (Mark 6:13).
– Word of knowledge – God gives insight about an underlying root cause of sickness to address through prayer.
– Word of wisdom – Instruction to act in a specific way that will bring healing.
– Power encounter – Healing that occurs when the kingdom of God overcomes the work of evil spirits.
– Creative miracles – Missing body parts restored or new parts created for healing purposes.
Physical, Emotional and Spiritual Healing
The gift of healing can address all kinds of sickness, infirmity and brokenness. Physical healings demonstrate God’s power and love in tangible ways. But emotional and spiritual restoration are equally amazing displays of God’s grace and redemption. All healing is a glimpse of the full redemption awaiting God’s people (Romans 8:22-23).
Healings Bring Glory to God
Miraculous healings give credibility to the message of salvation in Christ. They show that the kingdom of God has broken into this fallen world. Healings lead people to give praise and thanks to the Lord (Acts 4:21, Luke 17:15). While not everyone is healed, every opportunity must be taken to glorify Jesus. Ultimately, the greatest divine healing is the forgiveness and eternal life freely given through faith in Christ.
Cautions Regarding the Gift
Those who have been given the gift of healing must be careful to avoid pride. Paul says “if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:2). Using healing gifts should be motivated by compassion, not fame. Additionally, people should only claim to have the gift of healing if it has been affirmed by the church through the pattern in Scripture. Self-proclamation apart from local church accountability often leads to harm.
Healing May Be Gradual
At times, God chooses to heal gradually rather than instantaneously. This allows him to strengthen faith and dependence on his daily grace. It also enables others to show compassion by caring for those who are healing. And it provides space for God’s glory to be revealed in the stages of recovery and restoration.
Not All Are Healed
God alone decides if and when healing occurs. Faith, fasting, prayer and all the gifts of the Spirit can be applied for healing, but there are no formulas that obligate God to act in a certain way. Some people are healed miraculously, some through ordinary means like medicine, some are cured over time, and some are not healed. But God’s grace is always sufficient to bring comfort and strength to sufferers.
Guidance for Churches
Churches should handle healing gifts with care. Here are some best practices when exercising the gift of healing in corporate gatherings:
– Follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit. Don’t force ministry times, manipulate crowds, or whip up false expectations. Let the Spirit guide the process.
– Work with church leadership. Healing teams should serve under pastoral authority and work cooperatively with other ministries.
– Focus on Jesus, not the vessel. Keep attention on Christ, not the human instrument through whom he works.
– Prepare in prayer. Unplug from social media and saturate ministry times in prayer. Only move out in the confidence that comes from Spirit-led intercession.
– Equip for pastoral care. Those ministering healing should be ready to provide ongoing care for counselees if needed.
– Cooperate with medical advice. Healing prayer should go hand-in-hand with medical treatment.
Cautions About Counterfeits
The Bible warns about lying signs and false miracles associated with deception (2 Thessalonians 2:9). Not all healings come from God. Satan can perform counterfeit healings to confuse people and lead them astray. Believers must stay grounded in God’s word to discern what is from the Holy Spirit versus what is not. Here are some clues that healing ministries may be operating under false spirits rather than the true Holy Spirit:
– Focus on the healer not Jesus
– Emphasis on raising money more than ministering God’s love
– Denial of the authority of the Bible
– Immoral behavior by the healer
– Strange doctrines added to purported healings
– Directing followers away from church participation
Skepticism About Gifts
Some Christians are skeptical about current-day healing gifts. Reasons for this skepticism include:
– Lack of confidence in supernatural intervention
– Doubts about the accuracy of healing reports
– Disappointment from seeming unanswered prayers
– Concerns about charlatans who exploit people
While church history has examples of excess and abuse regarding healing gifts, this does not invalidate what Scripture teaches. At the same time, reports of healings should be handled with discernment and wisdom. Healthy caution combined with childlike faith pleases God.
Need for Discernment
Since miraculous gifts can be counterfeited, the Bible instructs believers to exercise discernment. Scripture, reason, church authority, and the inner witness of the Holy Spirit in the believer’s spirit should all guide the assessment of gifts of healing (1 Thessalonians 5:19-22). While all healing comes from God, not everything claimed as divine healing actually is. But with proper biblical judgment, the church can recognize, celebrate and rejoice in the true gift of healing.
God’s Purposes
Every instance of God’s healing is an expression of his personal love and care. But there are also larger purposes tied to healing gifts:
– Point to Christ – Healing draws attention to Jesus as the compassionate Savior who came to redeem all creation.
– Build faith – Healing miracles produce faith and dependence on God rather than self-reliance.
– Meet needs – Healing demonstrates God’s care for people’s hurts and validates the message of salvation.
– Bring glory to God – Healing overflow in praise to the Lord as people are awed by his power and grace.
Modern Examples of Healing
While the frequency and public nature of the healing gift seems less common today, God still heals miraculously:
– Medically documented healings continue to occur where doctors acknowledge divine intervention.
– Missionaries often report healings and miracles taking place as the gospel spreads globally.
– Many churches practice healing prayer regularly with quiet stories of suffering relieved and hope renewed.
– Numerous individual believers witness God’s healing touch in their own lives in response to prayer.
– The greatest healing miracles may go unpublished, as God works intimately in lives away from any spotlight.
Links to Other Gifts
The gift of healing usually partners with other spiritual gifts when exercised. Works of healing display God’s mercy, faith produces expectation for healing, prophecy can reveal root causes of illness, and words of knowledge disclose hidden factors to address. All gifts work together to build up the church.
For All or Some?
The gift of healing is a special ability given by God’s grace to select believers. But the Bible is addressed to all Christians when it instructs how to pray for the sick (James 5:14). So praying for healing is a responsibility and privilege for every follower of Jesus, not just those gifted. Through persistent, faithful prayer, anyone can be a conduit of God’s loving comfort to the suffering.
Conclusion
The spiritual gift of healing is an extraordinary blessing from God to his church. As the Holy Spirit distributes this gift to certain believers, the church and the world are able to glimpse the future redemption that awaits all creation. Like every spiritual gift, healing is given for the common good, so God may be glorified and people drawn to salvation in Jesus Christ.
